Health – Clubs and Organizations

Join these fun and educational clubs of your choice! As a pre-health student, there are many clubs that can help you learn more about your dream profession, to get you involved on campus and in the community, and to help you network with your peers with similar interests! If you find a club that you enjoy, furthering your experience by becoming an officer within the club may lead to leadership experience. There are many more clubs at UHM than the ones provided below. For more clubs, please visit UHM’s Student Life and Development.

Honors Organizations

Pre-Health Clubs

HOSA at UHM- Health Occupations Students of America

ABOUT: HOSA is a national student organization endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education and the Health Science Education Division of ACTE. HOSA’s two-fold mission is to promote career opportunities in the health care industry and to enhance the delivery of quality health care to all people. HOSA’s goal is to encourage all health occupations instructors and students to join and be actively involved in the HSE-HOSA Partnership. HOSA provides a unique program of leadership development, motivation, and recognition exclusively for secondary, postsecondary, adult, and collegiate students enrolled in HSE programs. HOSA is 100% health care!

HOSA has a large variety of competitive as well as recognition events that students can participate in. To learn more about HOSA’s events, please follow this link: http://hosa.org/node/116

Medical Student Mentorship Program

ABOUT: Founded in 2002, The Medical Student Mentorship Program (MSMP) is a student-run organization that pairs current medical students John A. Burns School of Medicine with undergraduate students interested in pursuing a career in medicine. Through these pairings, our goal is to help foster relationships between undergraduates and medical students and faculty. Over the years, we have paired more than 600 mentees with medical student mentors via an extensive matching process. Mentor-mentee pairs contact each other regularly and participate in a variety of activities throughout the year.

Hawaii Pre-Health Career Corps

ABOUT: The Hawaii Pre-Health Career Corps (PHCC) is a program of the Hawai’i / Pacific Basin Area Health Education Center located at U.H.’s John A. Burns School of Medicine. The Hawaii Pre-Health Career Corps is a free year-round program for high school and college students who are interested in pursuing careers in health.

PHCC’s purpose is to:

Increase awareness about health careers

Provide mentoring

Provide shadowing and research experiences

Provide campus exposure to health careers

Through their years in the Corps, students are given progressive responsibility and serve as mentors to incoming members, thus providing a group support system for students interested in pursuing health careers.

Pre-Medical Association

ABOUT: The Pre-Medical Association (PMA) is the largest pre-health organization at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. PMA strives to expose students to the medical field that they plan to work in, and foster collegiality among peers with similar interests by providing its members with numerous networking and service opportunities. As a member of PMA, a student has access to valuable resources that may not be available to them as individuals.The Pre-Medical Association goals:

Provide its members with events and activities related to community service, medical education, and socials

Introduce members to professionals in the healthcare community

Expose members to underserved areas, academic institutions, and organizations related to healthcare

Pre-Pharmacy Association

ABOUT: PPA does many things! We volunteer in the community and focus on events that are of course, pharmacy related. PPA members have volunteered at health fairs, toured hospitals and have learned about the entire pharmacy school process. Every year, PPA also visits the Big Island of Hawaii to tour the UH Hilo School of Pharmacy! PPA is full of great people and good times!

Pre-Veterinary Club

ABOUT: Our mission is to provide a forum for promoting the introduction of students to opportunities and information related to animals and veterinary medicine. In addition, we strive to support our community and encourage student involvement on campus.”

We are dedicated to:

providing members with valuable animal experience opportunities

Helping members establish a solid curriculum

Giving members the opportunity for campus and student involvement

Presenting a chance to participate in community volunteer events

Networking with individuals interested in animals and the veterinary profession

Partners In Health Engage

PIH Engage is a grassroots network of volunteer community organizers that aims to build and advance the right to health movement by growing and amplifying PIH’s work. We bring resources and build power to stabilize the financing of health care systems globally by raising funds and engaging with policy makers. We focus all of our actions on the 3 pillars: Fundraising, Advocacy, and Community Building.

Fundraising: Generate fund’s to support PIH’s work in carrying out its life-saving work in 10 countries around the world.

Advocacy: Contact Congress, speak through media to people in power and the public, and with lawmakers face-to-face.

Community-Building: Focus on building people power, lead member recruitment, build relationships across the team, and educate our peers.

Volunteers for Intercultural and Definitive Adventures (VIDA) at UHM

ABOUT: VIDA is a non-profit organization that focuses on providing free medical, dental, and veterinary healthcare to rural communities in Central America. The chapter at UH Manoa completed the first trip to Costa Rica over spring break (Mar. 18 – 31, 2015). The students worked with talented doctors and translators to help diagnose and/or treat patients as well as provide spay/neuter clinics.

Planning next year’s trips are currently in progress. The club is looking for a dedicated group of PRE-MED, PRE-DENTAL, and PRE-VET students to join them during Spring Break 2016 and Summer 2016. Tentatively, the Spring Break 2016 group will travel to Costa Rica and the Summer 2016 group will travel to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Guatemala.

For more information, visit the organization’s website at http://www.vidavolunteer.org; check out the videos and photos of the first trip poster on Instragram, @vidahawaii; and email the Executive Board with any questions or concerns: uhmanoa@vidavolunteer.org.

Major Related Clubs

Biology Club

ABOUT: The Biology Club offers its members opportunities no other organization has yet presented. Such activities include snorkeling, hiking, and camping trips across Hawaii, visits to medical and scientific research facilities, community service projects (including the Great Aloha Run, Relay for Life, beach cleanups, Kaupa Stream Clean-up, Waimea Audubon Conservation Project), zoo trips, and various socials with other health and science organizations to name a few. The Biology Club is a GREAT way to get to know the island of Hawaii…

Biology Club is also a great way to get experience in the field of biology. The club often has special speakers including professors, doctors, conservationists, and researchers from various fields. The club also offers mentorship for new UH Manoa students from all majors, and provides valuable resources in test-prep, class scheduling, and more. Some notable alumni members of the Biology Club include doctors, researchers, future professors, and many graduate students in various research fields…

BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP:

Great way to experience and explore different aspects of biology

Opportunities to explore the distinctive landscape and oceans of Hawai’i

Visit great medical and research institutions

Speak directly to professionals in any biological/medical field of interest

Food Science and Human Nutrition Council

ABOUT: The Food Science Human Nutrition (FSHN) Council is a student organization at the University of Hawaii at Manoa that strives to nurture students’ interest in dietetics, research, community wellness, and nutrition. The Council provides the opportunity for students to network with other students, faculty, and professionals in food science, nutrition and other health-related fields.

In addition to enhancing fellowship and facilitating communication, members are exposed to career information, scholarships opportunities, and community service activities. Our members are involved with the Hawaii Dietetic Association (HDA) and the American Dietetic Association (ADA) which gives us access to the latest news in nutrition and an exceptionally valuable professional network.

We welcome anyone in the nutrition program to join us, and also anyone interested in learning more about this field. To learn more, explore our website to see what the FSHN Council is cooking up at theUniversity of Hawaii and in the community!

Microphiles: Microbiology Club

ABOUT: For students interested in the fascinating science of Microbiology. The club’s goal is to enhance the learning objectives and experiences outside of the standard lab and classroom environments, to cultivate a greater understanding of the vast subject matter, create networking opportunities, and develop professional career planning.

Public Health Hui Ola Pono

ABOUT: Hui Ola Pono is the student group of the University of Hawaii at Manoa Department of Public Health Sciences. The Hui provides a vehicle for public health students to present the ideas, interests, and concerns of the members of the student body.It serves as a liaison between the students, faculty, and administration.

The Hui facilitates communication and involvement among students through scheduled meetings, coordination of social and educational activities, and dissemination of necessary information. It is an organization that provides students with opportunities to promote Public Health within both the university and Hawai’i community at large through outreach, education, and fundraising. This group provides support and guidance for incoming students and links students in the Public Health program with other students and Public Health professionals locally, nationally, and internationally.

Social Work BSW Organization

ABOUT: The BSW Student Service Organization enhances awareness of social work principles to positively impact on the micro, mezzo, and macro levels through advocacy, service projects, mentorship and family-oriented activities.

The objectives and general purpose of the organization shall be:

To create a sense of community among BSW students and the staff of the UHM School of Social Work through social/recreational gatherings.

To provide BSW students the opportunity for development through interface with professional practitioners in the Social Work professional community through workshops and seminars.

To provide BSW students the opportunity to participate in service projects which will benefit the greater community through organized activities.

To enhance the educational experience of BSW students by providing voluntary peer academic support.

Honors Organizations

Golden Key International Honour Society

ABOUT: Golden Key IHS is the largest international collegiate honor society in the world with over 2 million members from over 400 chapters at colleges and universities spread across 9 countries. Golden Key members strive to best represent the three pillars of the society: academics, leadership and service.

The GK IHS UHM chapter has a “tradition of excellence.” Since it was founded in 1989, the chapter has consistently been awarded “Gold” and “Key” status, the highest awards given by headquarters. We are the largest club on campus, we organize over 25 events every semester, and we have dozens of active members.

BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP:

Over $1,000,000 in exclusive scholarships for members

Exclusive job and internship opportunities

Leadership opportunities locally and internationally

Vast network of 2 million members worldwide

Community service opportunities

Special regional and International conferences

Study abroad programs

And more!

HOW TO JOIN: Undergraduate sophomore, junior, and senior students, as well as graduate students of all fields of study receive an invitation to join GKIHS if they are in the top 15% of their class. Here at UHM, undergraduates have at least a 3.7 GPA, while graduate students have a 4.0 GPA. Be sure to check your email for your invitation if you meet the GPA requirement.

Honors Student Organization

ABOUT: The Honors Student Organization (HSO) is a completely student-run organization and serve as a liason between students and the staff of the Honors Program. All students enrolled in the UHM Honors Program are automatically members of HSO, but we highly encourage individuals to take an active role in our activities, in order to have a fun and enriching experience.

The Honors Student Organization strives to:

Provide a platform for networking with fellow Honors students.

Promote the values of the Honors Program, which include scholarship, service, and leadership.

Enrich student life through social events and community service opportunities.

Mortar Board National College Senior Honor Society

ABOUT: Mortar Board as an honor society, is an association of individuals selected for distinguished ability and achievement in scholarship, leadership and service, which recognizing the advantages of a national union of senior honor societies, has formed a national honor society, whose purpose shall be to facilitate cooperation among those societies, to contribute to the self-awareness of its members, to promote equal opportunities among all peoples, to emphasize the advancement of the status of women, to support the ideals of the college or university, to advance a spirit of scholarship, to recognize and encourage leadership, to provide service, and to establish the opportunity for a meaningful exchange of ideas as individuals and as a group.

Psi Chi Psychology International Honour Society

ABOUT: Our purpose is to encourage, stimulate, foster, and maintain excellence in scholarship of the individual members in psychology as well as advance the science of psychology.

We aim to produce well-educated, ethical, and socially responsible members committed to contributing to the science and profession of psychology. Most importantly, our honor society focuses on advancing the academic and professional development of its distinct members.